MEMBERS

MEET THE SCIENTISTS
at the VEE Team

Our team combines expertise in microbial ecology, comparative genomics, and bioinformatics to uncover the hidden roles of viruses in shaping life on Earth.

Dr. Pedro Leão
Principal Investigator

Dr. Pedro Leão

Interested in uncovering the impact of virus–host interactions in ecology and evolution. With a background in ultrastructure characterization of prokaryotes, and metagenomics, now he uses computational biology resources to streamline the experimental validation of computational predictions.

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Current Focus

Bring archaea to the debate on the origin of immune system mechanism in eukaryotes, and target discovery of viral-inspired tool to tackle the clima crises.

Dmitry Bespiatykh

Dmitry Bespiatykh

PhD Candidate

Investigating mobile genetic elements (MGE) in Asgard archaea and their roles in the evolution of cellular complexity.

Asgard Archaea MGE
Anna-Marie Seelen

Anna-Marie Seelen

Staff Scientist

Responsible for administration of resources and projects, ensuring the lab runs smoothly and efficiently.

Server Infrastructure Administration
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Join the Lab

We are always looking for motivated PhD candidates and postdocs interested in viral ecology and evolution.

Former Members

Elia Konovalov

Master Student

2025

Hazal Doğan

Master Student

2025

Mendel Veldman

Bachelor Intern

2025

Lotte van der Sman

Master Student

2025–2026

Stefania Sburlan

Master Student

2026

Martijn Corvers

Master Student

2026

Get in Touch

Contact the Lab

Questions about our research, data access, collaborations, or student projects? Send a message below and it will land directly in our inbox — we usually reply within a few days.